Ephraim Cook (Cooke) (1 June 1737 in

Kingston, Massachusetts Kingston is a coastal town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 13,708 at the 2020 census. History Before European settlers arrived, Kingston was within the tribal homeland of the Wampanoag people. Several years ...

- 17 November 1821, Rockville, Nova Scotia) was a mariner and prominent merchant who was instrumental in establishing Halifax,

Mahone Bay Mahone Bay is a bay on the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia, Canada along the eastern end of Lunenburg County. The bay has many islands, and is a popular sailing area. Since 2003 the Mahone Islands Conservation Association has been working to prot ...

Blockhouse A blockhouse is a small fortification, usually consisting of one or more rooms with loopholes, allowing its defenders to fire in various directions. It is usually an isolated fort in the form of a single building, serving as a defensive stro ...

and

Chebogue, Nova Scotia Chebogue () (formerly spelled Jebogue) is a small fishing village situated above the marshes of the Chebogue River in Yarmouth County, Nova Scotia. Farming and fishing are the two main resources in the area. History The Mi'kmaq people, Mi'kmaq ...

. He also participated in the

French and Indian War The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was a theater of the Seven Years' War, which pitted the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various Native American tribes. At the ...

, including the

Expulsion of the Acadians The Expulsion of the Acadians, also known as the Great Upheaval, the Great Expulsion, the Great Deportation, and the Deportation of the Acadians (french: Le Grand Dérangement or ), was the forced removal, by the British, of the Acadian pe ...

. He was the first

Registrar of Deeds A registrar is an official keeper of records made in a register. The term may refer to: Education * Registrar (education), an official in an academic institution who handles student records * Registrar of the University of Oxford, one of the sen ...

(1767) and the first

Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

Yarmouth County Yarmouth County is a rural county in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. It has both traditional Anglo- Scottish and Acadian French culture as well as significant inland wilderness areas, including over 365 lakes and several major rivers. It c ...

. In 1749 Cook commanded the ship

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

and transported 255 settlers as part of

Edward Cornwallis Edward Cornwallis ( – 14 January 1776) was a British career military officer and was a member of the aristocratic Cornwallis family, who reached the rank of Lieutenant General. After Cornwallis fought in Scotland, putting down the Jacobi ...

' expedition to settle Halifax. He fell out of favour with Cornwallis and went to jail for insulting a judge. Five years later, during the

, Cook established the settlement of Mahone Bay under the protection of Captain

Thomas Lewis (mariner) Thomas Lewis may refer to: Sportsmen * Thomas Lewis (English cricketer) (died 1882), English cricketer * Thomas Lewis (Australian cricketer) (1829–1901), Australian cricketer *Thomas Lewis (American football) (born 1972), American football wide ...

and his rangers (1754). He built the first ship in Mahone Bay, the

snow Snow comprises individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water throughout ...

Edward (1754). In 1755, Cook was captain of the snow Edward, and departed with 278 Acadians from

Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia Annapolis Royal, formerly known as Port Royal, is a town located in the western part of Annapolis County, Nova Scotia, Canada. Today's Annapolis Royal is the second French settlement known by the same name and should not be confused with the n ...

on 8 December 1755. The ship were blown off course by violent storms and arrived in New London, Connecticut on May 22, 1756. 98 Acadians (35%) died en route because of disease. After the

Raid on Lunenburg (1756) The Raid on Lunenburg occurred during the French and Indian War when Mi'kmaw and Maliseet fighters attacked a British settlement at Lunenburg, Nova Scotia on May 8, 1756. The native militia raided two islands on the northern outskirts of the f ...

, he built a block house to protect Mahone Bay (in the present-day community of

). He lost his leg while building the blockhouse and returned to Massachusetts. In 1757, along with

Joshua Mauger Joshua Mauger (1725– 18 October 1788) was a prominent merchant and slave trader in Halifax, Nova Scotia (1749–60) and then went to England and became Nova Scotia's colonial agent (1762). He has been referred to as "the first great merchant an ...

, Cook pushed Governor Charles Lawrence to establish an elected assembly. In 1763, Cook established Chebogue and was the first to settle

Lower Melbourne, Nova Scotia Yarmouth, officially named the Municipality of the District of Yarmouth, is a district municipality in Yarmouth County, Nova Scotia, Canada. Statistics Canada classifies the district municipality as a municipal district. The district municipality ...

and is the namesake of the near-by Cooks Beach. He established the most profitable fishing industry in Western Nova Scotia. He was also the leader of the local militia. Cook married Louisa Ring on March 30, 1764. They had eleven children. Captain Cook died in 1821 and was buried on his farm in Lower Melbourne, but his headstone is in the

Chebogue Cemetery Chebogue Cemetery is the oldest burial ground in Yarmouth County, Nova Scotia, Canada (1771). The most notable grave is of Captain Ephraim Cook (mariner) Ephraim Cook (Cooke) (1 June 1737 in Kingston, Massachusetts - 17 November 1821, Rockville, ...

Legacy

* namesake of

Cooks Beach (Nova Scotia) Cooks Beach (Pukaki) is a town on a three-kilometre white-sand beach on the Coromandel Peninsula of New Zealand. To its north is Cooks Bay, and beyond that is Mercury Bay. To the east is the locality of Hahei and the tourist attraction of Cathe ...

, Cook Harbor, Yarmouth County

References

History of Nova Scotia 1737 births 1821 deaths {{Improve categories, date=January 2020